Chapter Eleven
Will Darcy was almost out of patience. Where had his cousin gone off to without telling him? He had searched everywhere, the area around the hotel, his room, and even checked with his aunt to see if she knew where he had gone. His aunt was still hovering around Charlotte throughout the afternoon, and seemed to be in no rush to take a break.
"Aunt Catherine," Will barged into the room unannounced, and Charlotte looked up at him from where the two women sat at a table in the reception hall, Charlotte was arranging the centerpieces for each table, and Catherine appeared to not be working in any way, "have you seen Richard? I haven't seen him since after we checked in."
"No, William," Catherine flipped through a binder, "although that might be considered a good thing; because he has been out of our hair the entire afternoon," she commented nonchalantly, not looking up at her nephew.
"Oh, Will, I think Richard and Lizzie went on a hike a little while ago," Charlotte glanced up and smiled as she stuck the stem of a flower into the glass vase, "but it's been a while…" she turned her wrist up to see the watch on her arm, "oh crap, I need to leave soon. I have to pick up Ricky at the airport soon," she looked up at Will again, "and they're still not back?"
"I suppose not," Will said, his impatience replaced by mild worry, "do you know where they went?"
"I believe they said the Petrified Forest, that's why they needed my rental car," Charlotte explained, "but we don't have any way to drive there, now…I can call Lizzie" Charlotte set the unfinished center piece down and picked up her cellphone. At the same time Charlotte placed the phone to her face, Will felt his own cellphone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID.
"Richard, are you ok?" Will answered immediately, "Why are you not back yet?"
"Okay, calm down" Richard said in the phone, though Will suspected it was more to calm himself down then to calm Will down, "so, Lizzie had a tiny accident while we were hiking and so it took us twice as long to walk back to our car because of that, and that's where my cellphone was, which is why I'm calling you now…" he trailed off and Will heard a weak voice in the background.
"Richard, I'm fine, it's just a sprain and a cut, you don't need to take me to the hospital." Lizzie said.
"What happened?" Will asked, trying his best to maintain an even tone in his voice, "Is she alright?"
"This is not up for debate," Richard replied to Lizzie, ignoring Will's remarks, "you need to make sure it's not broken."
"It's not broken, I can assure you, my bones have been broken before and this is not broken," Lizzie struggled to fight back the pain from exposing itself in her expression. She bit her lip to maintain her composure, "It just needs ice."
"Is she alright?" Will repeated louder.
"Oh, sorry, Will," Richard finally replied, "she's alive, if that's what you mean. But her ankle is badly swollen, she thinks it's sprained, and she hit her head, but she wasn't knocked out so that's good."
Will felt heat rising to his face, though he wasn't entirely sure where it was originating from, "You're taking her to the hospital?" he was anxious, though knew she would be in perfect care with Richard.
"Yeah, but we're coming back to the hotel first, so Charlotte can take the car to the airport after we've dropped Lizzie off at the hospital." Richard sighed, "tell Charlotte we'll be there in a few minutes."
Charlotte hung up the phone after getting Lizzie's voicemail, and looked up at Will who seemed to be having more luck. He put the phone back in his pocket and simply said, "they'll be here soon, but Lizzie has to go to the hospital."
Will glanced down at her feet, one still clad in an extremely dirty tennis shoe, the other removed of the shoe and her pants rolled up to her mid-calf, exposing the grotesquely swollen ankle. It didn't look broken, Will decided, but the sprain was very bad.
"Why weren't you wearing proper hiking boots?" he asked her, breaking an oppressive silence.
Lizzie was still uncertain as to why Will had to accompany them to the hospital. Her intense pain and bloodied forehead were only temporary impediments to releasing her pent up anger from what Richard had told her right before she fell.
"This never would have happened if you had hiking boots," he continued, unsure if her scowling expression was in response to his remarks or her pain, "they cover your ankle, which keeps it from rolling," he explained, trying to sound more earnestly concerned than imposingly haughty.
Is he really telling me what I did wrong right now, Lizzie questioned internally, my forehead is covered in blood and I can barely walk on my ankle, and yet he still has the audacity to criticize me.
"Hiking boots are expensive," she managed to finally respond, after processing exactly what he had said, "And this shoes are usually trustworthy," she glanced down at her foot still in the ragged Nike shoe. It was true that they were trustworthy, though she had overrun them with activity; the sole was worn and on the verge of falling apart, and the laces were fragmented beyond repair despite the obvious attempts with duct tape.
Will nodded before pulling out his phone to find the nearest outdoor gear store.
"We're here," Charlotte remarked solemnly as they pulled up to the hospital. She made both Will and Richard promise to take good care of her as she went to the airport to pick up her fiancé. Richard being the shorter of the two and therefore closer to Lizzie height slouched down so she could easily put her arm around his shoulder as they hobbled into the hospital.
"I just got off the phone with Charlotte, and she said she just picked Ricky up and should be able to get here soon." Lizzie had let Richard borrow her cellphone to check on where she was now that they had just been released. "So good news, huh?" Richard handed her the cellphone and began examining her ankle brace.
"Yeah, it's not broken, as I told you." Lizzie smiled.
Richard waved his hand as if to shoo off the comment, "You can never be too cautious," he returned the smile.
"and my head doesn't need stitches," Lizzie finished, stretching in her chair in the waiting room, "I just have to wear this ridiculous brace and have a crutch for two weeks." She gestured by lifting the injured leg up, but soon winced and set it back down on the floor.
"Great start to the wedding weekend," Richard sat next to her, occupying the seat between Lizzie and Will, who was engrossed in his phone.
Lizzie laughed, "Yeah, I'm sure Charlotte will hold this over my head for a while."
"Charlotte, I'm just going to head up, I really just want to sleep," Lizzie told her friend as she hobbled into the lobby with her single crutch.
"No dinner? Are you sure?" Charlotte asked though she knew her friend was truly intensely humiliated from the afternoon.
"Yeah, I just want to take the painkiller and sleep until tomorrow," Lizzie smiled, before limping off.
"Does she need help?" Will soon replaced Lizzie's spot next to Charlotte.
Charlotte laughed, "She's so stubborn; she's just embarrassed that all this happened today because of her," Charlotte turned to look at Will, his concern for Lizzie was obvious and laughed at how unaware her friend was to have somehow missed it, "She'll be fine by tomorrow when her pride is regained."
Charlotte turned to walk away before Will spoke, "Oh, wait, Charlotte I have a favor to ask of you," he began, and nodded in understanding, "can I borrow your car? I need to go get something from West Yellowstone."
The next morning passed in the usual pre-wedding excitement, and Lizzie felt extremely guilty because she couldn't help with any of the setup, though Charlotte assured her that it was alright. It didn't help that Will stood around her like a hawk, giving her no peace of mind. Richard came to sit next to her every chance he got, in between keeping his aunt occupied, and Lizzie offered his company with open arms.
Before long it was time for Charlotte to get ready, and Lizzie took that as excuse enough to return to her room and struggle getting dressed as she had that morning.
She had bought a beautiful navy dress for the occasion, with Jane helping her pick it out. Lizzie never would have bought the dress without Jane first pointing it out, it was very different from her tastes, which were limited to jeans and sweaters, but once she tried it on, she agreed with Jane that the dress fit her nicely. It was a modest dress, the darkest cloth formed a sleeves dress with a flattering neckline, but a thinner navy fabric settled over the thicker dress and formed a slight sleeve over her shoulders giving the dress a much more modest feel. At her waist, the dress was adorned with a navy fabric belt that fit on Lizzie's figure perfectly. She was slightly disappointed that her crutch and ankle brace would inhibit her actually showing off the dress, but she promised herself she would have other opportunities to wear it. She had brought stylish silver heals to wear, but with her ankle brace she decided on much simpler black ballet flats.
The ceremony was simply stunning; Lizzie was stunned how the day before the location that had been a simple rocky shoreline graced with an oil painting as a background had become an intimate setting with white chairs set up facing the lake, and a small altar at the end of the aisle. Charlotte looked gorgeous, and Lizzie was amazed how much her friend had changed since they were children. The ceremony was simple, the couple exchanged vows then everyone piled into their cars and headed back to the inn for the reception.
Dinner was served almost immediately when everyone had arrived, and Lizzie suddenly felt fatigued. She tried to stay at the reception for as long as she could bear with her leg propped up on the seat beside her. Richard left his own table to come sit by her once many of its former occupants had vacated and moved to the dancefloor.
"Feeling okay?"
"Incredibly tired," she replied, throwing back the remainder of her champagne, "I think I'm going to hit the sack soon,"
"What? Are you kidding? The party is just getting started!" he responded animatedly.
"It's not like I can even dance," she gestured to her foot still on the chair, and looking pitiful in its brace. She yawned then continued, "I'm going to say goodnight to Charlotte, I'll see you later,"
Richard nodded and helped her up. Lizzie adjusted her crutch underneath her and hobbled off to where Charlotte was sitting with her newlywed husband.
"Where's Lizzie going?" Will asked Richard quietly after he returned from her emptied table, and Will noticed her hugging Charlotte then heading toward the exit.
"She's tired," he sighed, and sat down next to Will, "so she's going to bed."
Will had not really thought his plans through at this point, but because his family was leaving early the next morning he was unsure if he would have another chance. He slouched over and pulled a plastic bag with a box inside it, and got up.
"Where are you going?" Richard asked, arching one eyebrow, determining that he already knew the answer.
"I'll be right back, I just want to say something to her." And with that he quickly left the table, following Lizzie out the door.
"Hey Lizzie," she heard a familiar voice call from behind her once she had entered the lobby. The entrance from the hallway into the lobby was in a quiet corner, and there didn't seem to be anyone except the staff still lingering, "do you have a second?"
"Will, I am really tired," Lizzie sighed, "so I am really not in the mood for this."
Will's expression hardened a bit before he continued, "it will only take a second, I promise."
Lizzie sighed exasperated, and sat down on a hearth next to a dying fire, "okay, what is so important that you feel the need to keep me from my sleep?"
Will fidgeted with the handle of the plastic bag he held in his hand as Lizzie's eyes bore holes into his skull; he had no idea what he wanted to say. Succumbing to the pressure of suspended silence he finally blurted.
"You bother me,"
"What?" she responded, her eyes wide with his bold statement.
"I mean, sorry, that did not come out how I wanted it," he felt his cheeks flush vibrantly, and was sure she could notice, "it's not you, yourself, that bothers me, it's your presence it's so…unsettling."
"Unsettling?" Lizzie laughed in astonishment, "is that your lame ass attempt at a compliment?"
Will faltered, "What I mean to say is that something about you that makes me feel like I'm on a rollercoaster, and it's not a bad rollercoaster, it's more like the Hulk rollercoaster at Universal Studies in Orlando—"
"never been there,"
"oh, well," he felt his resolve falling to complete shambles, "it's a great rollercoaster, anyway, you make me feel…confused. And hopeless. And completely lost."
"Okay, Will, you're clearly having some sort of struggle session against me, and truly I don't appreciate it," she hoisted herself up with her crutch, "so I'm going to bed, hope you have fun at the party." She added sarcastically, waving her free hand as she turned to walk away.
"Wait, Lizzie," Will ran to stand in front of her, "what I mean to say is that I—I like you, very much so."
A/N: surprise, surprise, there's still an author's note. Anyway so first off, here's a link to what I was imagining for Lizzie's dress, I hope I did it justice:
ok the link's not working, but if you go to my profile, I have it there, or you can leave a comment, and I'll send it to you.
Okay, so I know I promised to update quicker, but after I finished chapter ten, I actually went ahead and wrote what will become chapter twelve, and so then I felt super lazy and didn't want to write this chapter. But because of that, the next chapter should be out really soon, it only needs to be touched up.
So, leave a review of what you think, oh also, so I have never actually injured my leg before and I had to do some research about sprained ankles and some places said yes brace, no crutches and others said no/yes to both, and I just sprung for both, mostly because I can't imagine not having crutches if you can't put weight on it (?) correct me if I'm wrong because I have no idea. Anyway, thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites! They mean a lot! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also what do you think of Will in this chapter? I'm concerned I made him seem to childish with the whole rollercoaster comment; I am totally willing to take that out, and willing to add in some of the typical kind of lines from the first 'proposal' scene.